morris



(No Model.) 2 Shets-Sheet l. C. A. MORRIS.

DRBDGING BUCKET. No. 368,729. Patented Aug. 23, 1887.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. C. A.l MORRIS.

. DREDGIN'G BUCKET.

ANo. 368,729, Patented Aug. 23, 1887.

NTTEE STATES PATENT EEicE.

DREDGlNG-BUCKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 368,729, dated August23, 1887.

Application Iiled August Q5, 1886. Serial No. 211,786. (No modelJ T0 allwhom it may concern:

Beit known that I, CHARLES A. Mouais, of Bloomfield, in the county ofEssex and State of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement inDredging-Buckets, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of dredging or excavating bucketsknown as clamshell excavators, and in which two or more sections of acylinder are hinged together and swung open to discharge the contentsand drawn together to scoop up the material to be excavated, and therebyfill the bucket.

The bucket itself may be of any desired character; but I have shown aform especially adapted to my improvements. The bucket is closed by thehoisting-chain that acts upon chain wheels and drums similar to those inbuckets heretofore made use of, and there is a runner through which thechain passes, pro- `vided with latches that hold the head-block of thebucket, so that the bucket will be opened by lowering upon thehoisting-chain, and there are sliding latches that catch and hold thebucket-sections when the saine are opened, and these sliding latches aredisconnected by a foot-plate that rests upon the mud, sand, or othermaterial to be excavated when the bucket is lowered. Thelatches upon therunner are disconnected by a chain or rope actuated by hand when thebucket is to be lowered.

In the drawings, Figure lis a side elevation of the bucket and part ofthe hoisting-boom. Fig. 2 is an elevation of parts of the apparatus,with the frame-work and bucket in seetion at the line a" and Fig. 3represents a modification of the latches for holding the bucket-sectionsopen.

A portion of the end of the hoisting-boom is represented at A, and uponthis is the pulley 2, over which passes the hoisting-chain B. This isforked near the end, and the respective portions 3 and 4 pass to therespective grooved chain-wheels C D, and adjacent to and connected withthese chain-wheels are the chain-drums E and F, and from the chaindrumsthe chains 5 and6 pass up to the headblock H. These parts correspondgenerally to the devices heretofore employed in this class of excavatingapparatus.

r)She chain-wheels C and D are parallel to -each other and lap, asrepresented in Fig. l, and they are between the plates K, that form aframe that is parallel with and at each side of the chain-wheels, andthe shafts or axles 7 8 of the respective chain-wheels and.l drums passacross through this frame K, and upon the saine the wheels and drumsrevolve.

The bucket itself is formed of the two quarter-cylindrical segments L M,of ordinary character, except in the particulars hereinafter named.

At the ends of the frame Kare the j oints 10, that connect to the saidframe the respective bucket-segments L M, and it is preferable to makeuse of joint-bars l1, riveted upon the ends of the bucket-segments, andthese pass in between the jaws of the joints 10 upon the frame K, and attheir outer ends thesejointbars 1l are hinged at 12 to the toggle-barsP, which toggle-bars converge and are united at the hinges 13 to thehead-block H, and it is preferable to make use of intermediatejointbars, 14, hinged at their inner ends to the sides of the frame Kand in line with thejoints 10, and attached near their outer ends to there` `spective bucketsegments L M; and there are secondary toggle-bars,P', passing from the joints l5 at the outer ends of theintermediatejoint-bars, 14, up to the head-block H at the hinges 18.

It is now to be understood that the bucket is opened when the head-blockHis heldin aiixed position and the hoisting-chain B lowered, in whichcase the weight causes the bucket to descend, and the chains 5 and 6upon the respective drums rotate said drums and the grooved chain-wheelsand wind the chains 3 and 4L upon the respective chain-wheels; and whenthe hoisting-chain is drawn upon,it rst rotates the grooved chain wheelsand drums, and by the chains 5 and 6 draws down the head-block H, and bythc toggle-bars PP the bucket-segments L M are closed and the materialto be excavated scraped into the same.

The toggle-bars P P,converging in pairs to the ends of thehead-block,allow for the use of a shorter head-block than is necessarywhere the bars are parallel, and the chains 5 and 6 are nearly vertical,and are connected at their upper ends to the head-block, directly at thejoints of the pairs of toggle-bars, so that the closing power actsdirectly, and the toggle- IOO bars, being diagonal, form braces toprevent the head-blockl moving endwise above the frame and buckets.

The hoisting-chain B passes through a cenl tral opening in thehead-block H, and at this place there is an upwardly-projectingcylinder, H,With a flange or ring, h, and the upper end of this cylinderH is tapering or conical, so as to pass freely into .the runner R,thatsurrounds the hoisting-chain B, and upon this runner R the latches Sare' pivoted at S. These latches are adapted to catch beneath the iiangeh of the cylinder H upon the headblock H andv suspend the said head-block while the hoisting-chain is lowered upon to open the bucket anddischarge the contents. These latches are thrown into place by gravityor by springs, and when lit is desired to disconnect the latches fromthe head-block for lowering the bucket the same is accomplished by thechain `or rope 18, passing over suitable pulleys,19, and bifurcated, andattached to the upper ends of the respective latches. This chain or ropeis actuated by hand at the proper time. The runner R is suspended byloops or chains R from the boom A, and by varying thelength of theselinks or chains the length of the runner may be changed so as tolatches,'so that the one cannot shift laterally in relation to theother, as is the case when a cone alone is made use of, because theremust be considerable looseness or play to insure the proper operation ofthe catches.

If the parts heretofore described alone were made use of, the bucketwould-close by the action of the chains and the weight as soon as thelatches S were liberated from the head H. To prevent this I employ thelatches U, that catch the projections U upon the bucket-segments L M.These latches U are preferably made to slide within the guide-loops Z Zupon the frame K, and these sliding latches U are connected to afoot-plate, V, that is below the frame K, and when the bucket-segmentsare opened into the positions shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2 they areheld by these latches U catching over the projections U; but thefootplate V projects below the buckets and is of a suicient size to restupon and not sink into the mud or other material that is beingexcavated; hence the weight of the bucket will carry the same down asthe parts are lowered, and the buckets will unlatch from the latches U,and said bucket-segments will be closed and the material scooped up intothe same by the action of the parts as soon as the hoistingchain isdrawn upon, as before described.

In place of the latches U sliding, they may be pivoted, as shown in Fig.3, and unlatched by cam-shaped projections 24, that are connected withthe foot-plate V.

I'claim as my inventionl. The combination, with the bucket-segments, ofthe frame K above the said bucketsegments and having joints at its ends,the j oint-bars l1 and 14, connected with the bucketsegments and theframe, the toggle-bars P and P', connected to such joint-bars andconverging so as to come together in pairs at their upper ends, thehead-block H to the ends of which the toggle-bars are hinged, thehoisting-chain, the chain wheels and drums, and the chains connectingthe drums to the joints at the ends of the head-block, substantiallyasset forth.

2. vThe combination, with the bucket-segments, toggle-bars, head-block,chains, chainwheels, drums, and frame, of latches, and a runner to whichthe latches are pivoted, and a iange, h, and cylinder H, projectingupwardly upon the head-block, with which the latches engage, and aropeor chain for liberating the latches, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with the bucket-segments, the frame to which theyare hinged, and the mechanism, substantially as set forth, for openingand closing the bucket-segments, of two latches upon the frame andcatches on the bucket-segments to hold them open while being lowered,substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with the bucket-segments and mechanism,substantially as speciied, for hoisting, lowering, opening, and closingsaid bucket-segments, of latches .for holding the bucket-segments openwhile being lowered, and the foot-plate for unlatching the buckets,substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with the hinged segmental buckets, the frame towhich they are connected, and the hoisting and opening mechanism, oflatches to hold the buckets open, a foot-plate below the frame connectedwith the latches, and loops upon the frame for holding and guiding thesliding portions of the latches, substantially as speciiied.

Signed by me this 18th day of August, A. D. 1886.

C. Av. MORRIS.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM G. Mora, HAROLD SERRELL.

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